New Gas Tax Bill Proposed; Value Added Measure Filed/deadline Today

New Gas Tax Bill Proposed; Value Added Measure Filed/deadline Today

Article excerpt

A new gas tax bill, a bill calling for increase in cigarette sales
tax and a bill providing for a tax on goods imported into Oklahoma
were among the numerous pieces of legislation introduced into the
Oklahoma Legislature Monday.

Today is the deadline by which all new bills have to be
introduced into the Legislature.

House Bill 1257, by Rep. Larry Gish, D-Stillwater, would
establish the Oklahoma Business Value Added Tax, a 1 percent tax on
both goods imported into the state and on the value of any taxable
goods and services within the state.

Gish has also introduced his own fuel tax bill. The House
Revenue and Taxation Committee is slated to take up another gas tax
bill, House Bill 1061, by Rep. Walter Hill, R-Turpin, and Sen. Jerry
Smith, R-Tulsa, in today's meeting.

However, Gish's bill is quite different from the earlier bill
proposed by Hill and Smith.

Under HB 1252, the excise tax on diesel fuel would go from 5.5
cents per gallon to 6 cents per gallon, while the tax on gasoline
would go from 10 cents to 10.5 cents.

A half cent of the 6 cent diesel tax would be apportioned to the
Oklahoma Department of Transportation to be used for construction
and maintenance of state highways.

The original of HB 1061 did not include a provision for an
increase in diesel fuel tax, but the bill is expected to include
such a provision when it comes to the revenue and taxation committee
today.

- House Bill 1227, by Rep. Jim Henshaw, R-Tulsa, would create
the Product Liability Act, which establishes what the liabilities of
the product seller and manufacturer are to the buyer.

Under the provisions of the bill, an individual who brought a
lawsuit against a seller or manufacturer must prove the product was
unreasonably unsafe in construction and design. …